


Make the Most of Time

by Megumi_no_te



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Timeline, Aunt Peggy, Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, Everyone Is Alive, Everyone Is Gay, F/M, Fluff, Gay as in happy, Gen, Howard "Howie" Stark - Freeform, Howard Stark's Good Parenting, M/M, One Shot, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Sort Of, Steve Rogers Feels, Steve Rogers Gets a Hug, Time Travel, Tony Stark Feels, Tony Stark Gets a Hug, Two Captain Americas, Two steves, older Morgan Stark, some people are gay too, uncle steve
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-22
Updated: 2019-07-22
Packaged: 2020-07-11 11:55:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,667
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19927678
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Megumi_no_te/pseuds/Megumi_no_te
Summary: When Steve goes back in time to return the Infinity Stones, he takes a detour. Yes, he marries Peggy, but that's not all. If it's an alternate timeline, there's no reason he can't change things, right?Featuring an older Captain America who rescues a younger Captain America, one Bucky Barnes who never quite becomes the Winter Soldier, and a Tony Stark who grows up loved by his parents and godparents. It's funny how much the universe changes when the goal is letting Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, and Bucky Barnes be happy.





	Make the Most of Time

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, guys! Here's a universe where everybody gets to be happy :D
> 
> Special thanks to my beta/best friend, illegalplayer.

**** “Sir, you have a visitor.”

Tony looks up from the next generation Stark Phone he is building. “Let him in, J.”

The glass door to the lab slides open. “Thanks, JARVIS,” the guest says politely.

“Hey, Uncle Steve,” Tony greets before looking more closely at the man. He is holding a glass tube of red liquid—the last of the two extra Pym Particles he snatched from Hank’s lab in the 1970’s—in one hand, his smile making him appear a decade younger than usual. “Is it time?”

Steve nods resolutely. “Peggy’s been gone for three years, and our kids are doing just fine with their families. I need to get back while these old bones can handle it.”

Tony laughs. “Uncle Steve, I’m sure your bones are better than anyone else even close to your age.” He walks over to a side door, one made of steel rather than glass. “JARVIS will start getting the ARTEMIS ready.”

“What’s that acronym stand for?” Steve asks, watching Tony type in a code to unlock the door.

“A Real Time Excursion Machine Involving Suits’. Actually, I almost called it ‘Superior Time Exploration Vehicular Experience’, but I figured we didn’t need another Steve.”

“Yeah, probably not,” Steve says, ears reddening.

Tony smirks. “I take it you’ve said goodbye to everyone? I don’t want mom or the power couple after me when they realize I’m the last one who saw you. Stevie and Bucky will kill me for letting their savior escape, and mom…” he trails off, shuddering dramatically.

Steve chuckles, remembering with amusement the experience of meeting the younger version of himself. Nostalgia hits, and he spends a moment reminiscing on the life he made for himself in this timeline.

—

_ The first thing Steve does after returning to the late forties, aside from finally learning how to dance, is explain to Peggy the future of the SSR, SHIELD, and HYDRA. Once he helps her clean house and rid the world of the secret Nazi organization for good, Steve leads SHIELD to the place where the Valkyrie crashed several years earlier. By the time they return with a block of frozen Captain America, Howard has figured out how to work HYDRA’s cryogenic system that holds the Winter Soldier. _

_ Fortunately, Howard explains when they get back, Bucky fought HYDRA’s attempts to control him long enough to be rescued, so the trigger words Steve mentioned earlier are completely useless. The flesh around Bucky’s metal arm is damaged due to the recent surgery, and he is still feeling the effects of the chair, but the serum will let him physically heal soon enough.  _

_ In the weeks it takes for the younger Captain America to awaken, Steve is able to help Bucky talk through some of his trauma until the man feels more like a person than a skittish animal. In the meantime, Steve also spends time watching Howard work diligently on the arm to relieve some of Bucky’s pain. Steve quickly suggests adding a new department to Stark Industries that will focus on prosthetics for veterans, hoping to steer Howard away from weapons and make the future Tony’s life easier. _

_ Steve and Bucky are both there when Stevie eventually wakes up, and Steve gets to watch his counterpart’s reaction to finding a living, breathing Bucky Barnes at his bedside; he is suddenly reminded of those fledgeling feelings he had as a child but never acted on in his own timeline. Apparently, in this one, he doesn’t have to worry so much about stealing Peggy after all—not that anyone outside their small group will realize in the next two decades that Stevie Rogers and Bucky Barnes aren’t merely best friends. And even when the Stonewall Riots happen and the couple outs themselves, it isn’t exactly feasible to arrest a pair of super soldiers who work for SHIELD. _

_ Soon after that, Tony Stark is born, and Steve tells Maria and Howard all about his original timeline. The first of many changes the new parents make for their son is to name Steve and Peggy his godparents. Peggy takes this role seriously, scolding Howard whenever he becomes too obsessed with work or drinks too much and begins to neglect Tony. Steve, on the other hand, always spends time with the kid when his parents are too busy, doing his best to make up for Howard’s mistakes so that Tony can have a good childhood this time around.  _

_ December 16th, 1991 passes like any normal day, and Howard remains CEO of Stark Industries while Tony insists on working his way up the ladder in the Research and Development department. Steve watches as his godson falls for Howard’s new assistant, Virginia “Pepper” Potts, and the two date for a few years before Howard decides to retire as CEO, requiring Tony to take over. By the time Tony becomes Pepper’s boss, the two are engaged, and they work together like a well-oiled machine. The Board panics when Tony dissolves the last of S.I.’s weapons productions, but the stocks surpass normal within a year and the world accepts the change. _

_ Tony and Pepper get married in the spring of 2000 and have their first child three years later, waiting almost a decade to have their second. They continue to work alongside the SHIELD his godparents created. Once a year, Tony builds a new Iron Man armor to match the ones in Steve’s stories, training occasionally with his friends from SHIELD just in case aliens  _ do _ attack. He promises Pepper to never use them unless the world is in danger. He never breaks his promise. _

—

“Uncle Steve?” Tony says worriedly, interrupting his thoughts.

Steve notices that his godson is waiting for him. “Ah, sorry, Tony. I was just thinking,” he answers sheepishly.

“You  _ did _ say bye to everyone, right?”

Steve nods and follows him into the next room. “I saw Buck and Stevie earlier this morning, so you don’t have to worry about that. And Maria and Pepper were in the kitchen when I got here.”

“And the kids?” Tony asks.

“Peter is here, and he and Morgan are playing with Howie. They look like a little family,” Steve teases.

Tony rolls his eyes. “My daughter is giving me so much gray hair. Pep says fifteen is old enough to date, even though Peter is two years older than her.”

Steve grins at Tony’s nonsense. “All the kids in her class are two years older. And you know you love Peter.”

“That was before he started dating my daughter.” Tony sighs. “At least I know the kid will treat her right, since he’s basically her Rhodey.”

“Sir, the ARTEMIS is ready,” JARVIS interrupts, changing the teasing atmosphere into a tense one.

“Alrighty then,” Tony says, his voice rough. He picks up a circular black bag from under the control desk. “Here you go.”

Steve hesitatingly takes the bag with the hand not holding the Pym Particles. “Is this...?”

Tony clears his throat. “Communications between S.I. and Wakanda have been going well for a while, so I was able to get some more vibranium just before dear old dad passed. He and I made another shield so you could take one with you.”

Steve’s eyes begin to water. “Tony, this is amazing.”

A wobbly smile on his face, Tony says, “I know you wanted to pass on the mantle when you get back. And since your original broke....”

“Thanks, kid.”

“You know I’m almost fifty, right?” Tony says to cover his embarrassment.

“Trust me, you’ll be calling Pete and Morgan ‘kid’ their whole lives,” Steve answers.

“Only if the kid stays around that long,” Tony grumbles about his daughter’s boyfriend before changing the subject. “Anyway, the bag turns into your suit, so you’ll have to carry the shield until you get there.”

Steve grins. “That’s perfect.” Unzipping the bag enough to grip the shield, he wills the nanobots to surround him and form a suit for time travel. He then straps the shield to his right arm, freeing up his hand to carefully insert the tube of Pym Particles into a slot on his waist. “Does it need a bracelet to activate? I remember the other one did.”

“Yeah, here.” Tony passes over a gold wrist watch with blue numbers and hands. “It’s a normal watch when you aren’t wearing the suit. I wanted to make it Iron Man themed, but I compromised since I know you don’t like flashy.“

Gently, Steve puts the watch on his left wrist, watching as the face transformed into a large blue button once it locked around the suit. “How do I look?”

Tony scoffs. “Old.”

Laughing, Steve just shakes his head and opened his arms. “Come here, Tony.”

Tony hesitates briefly before stepping into the hug. He stands there for a moment, gathering his words. “Years ago, you told me what the other Tony Stark’s life was like. Thank you so much for making sure mine didn’t turn out like that.”

Steve sniffles. “Of course, kiddo. I’m glad I got to watch you grow up. I love you like you’re my own; you know that, right?”

“Yeah,” Tony croaks. His fingers curl against the suit’s material. “Me too.“ Letting go, he backs up a step and rubs his eyes. “It’ll be weird with only one Steve around.”

“I bet it will.” Steve smiles sadly. “I’ll miss you, too, Tony.”

With a deep breath, Tony turns to face the control system. “Okay, you head onto the platform while I get this set up.”

Steve walks to the center of the ARTEMIS and straps the shield to his right arm. “I just need to put my helmet on and hit the button, right?”

“Right. You ready?”

“Yeah, I’m ready, Tony.”

“Roger that,” Tony jokes, hitting the last few switches.

With one last nod, Steve wills the nanobot helmet into place and activates his watch. A light flashes from the machine, enveloping Steve, and Tony shuts his eyes.

When he opens them, Steve is gone.  
  


**Author's Note:**

> I really wanted ARTEMIS to mean "A Revolutionary Time Excursion Mechanical Intuitive Shortcut", but I figured no one would want to have to think that hard about it. So, I decided to share it here.
> 
> Kudos make me happy; comments make me happier ;D Also, let me know if you want to write a more detailed story about this timeline; I'll be totally cool with that.


End file.
